Rte. 1

One person died, two houses and a greenhouse also caught fire in the 2 a.m., eight-alarm explosion on Rte. 1 southbound, Stephen Walsh reports. Channel 5 reports six cars crashed and that gasoline from the truck got into a brook that then burst into flames in a neighborhood near Rte. 1, which is now shut.

In 2008, the state erected a sign on Centre St. just before the VFW Parkway that sure seemed to indicate Rte. 1 was just around the bend. Now a brand-new "Rte. 1 Jct" sign has gone up on Washington Street southbound in Dedham, just by the mall and just before the rotary with what was once Rte. 1, before the state decided it was very important that Rte. 1 smush with Rte. 128 instead of ambling along the Riverway, Jamaicaway and VFW Parkway.

Doug Banks reports there's now a two-mile backup on Rte. 1 of people desperately trying to get into the new Sonic in Peabody.

All teens, on Rte. 1, around 11 a.m. when their Montero rolled over, Channel 4 reports.

While doing 55.

Channel 4 reports on the Saugus crash early this morning.

Greg MacKay captures a classic scene on Rte. 1 in Saugus.

Either the state is getting ready to put Rte. 1 back on its proper path along the Arborway/VFW Parkway or somebody has been inhaling too many paint fumes at the Department of Conservation and Recreation sign shop. How else to explain this sign, which recently went up where Centre Street turns into the VFW Parkway in Roslindale - 19 years after the state decided Rte. 1 was going to go south via 128 North?

Thanks to Bob Ward for the tip.

My husband just called me. He works for a hospital in Boston (not Paul Levy's hospital) and as non-essential personnel he was released at 2:30pm today.

It is now 7:45pm. He just passed Kappy's on Rte 1 North.

Do the math -- 5.25 hours, yes.
But, even more disconcerting is -- Kappy's was closed.

"Think of the amount of booze they COULD BE SELLING to people like me who have spent 5 hours to go less than 10 miles. Think of the revenue! Think of the ... "

Doug was a little upset.

Good thing it only took me 2.5 hours to get home from Marblehead (to Haverhill) and I stopped at the wine store in Georgetown on the way home. Pinot Grigio Awaits.

Good luck to any and all still out there battling the elements. Be safe, not stupid.

The Globe reports that a tractor trailer hauling garbage overturned at the interchange of Rte. 1 north and I-95 in Peabody during the morning rush hour today, closing the ramp.

Garbage trucks had to be called in to haul off the stuff. What happens if one of them overturns?

Tyrannosaugus Rex looks none the worse for wear after his recent encounter with a dino-tipper.

True, 10-foot long inflatable rats fit right in on Rte. 1 in Saugus, but they are still resulting in gawkablawkkas, since drivers have yet to get used to them, as opposed to orange dinosaurs or fiberglass cows or a leaning tower of pizza.

I am devastated to learn that someone managed to tip or pull over the giant orange dinosaur that sits in the mini-golf course on Rte 1 South. Full story in the Herald is here.

The owner says that he will rise again, just like Jesus (seeing as the event took place on Easter Sunday, I'm glad she has a sense of humor about it). I sure hope he does. I love that thing. And once he's back up, I'm totally going to go visit him. 20 plus years of driving by and smiling is too long.

When I first came to the area for college in 1984 (when some of you was wearin' dipeys) I loved seeing this dino on the side of the road. My kids say "Hi Dinosaur!" when we drive past. As I've recently gotten crazy with taking a lot of photos for my flickr account, I had intended for a good long time to swing by there, park, and go photograph my favorite fiberglass orange beast.

Liz describes and photographs the Tuesday-afternoon flooding at the Lynnfield tunnel on Rte. 1:

... Traffic wasn't moving, and if you looked up ahead we saw the beginning of what should have been the road going under the bridge but instead looked like a raging river. Cars which tried to make it were stuck and literally bobbing in the water. ...

Via Boston Crazy Driving.